W. Ian Lipkin is John Snow Professor and Director of Columbia University of the Center for Infection and Immunity and the Global Alliance for Preventing Pandemics. Widely known as the “Virus Hunter”, Lipkin created many of the tools currently used for infectious disease surveillance and has led responses to outbreaks in >30 countries of hemorrhagic fevers, encephalitis, respiratory, blood and vector borne diseases. During the pandemic, he developed diagnostic tests and protocols that were critical for NYC, the entertainment industry, Amazon, and the Democratic National Convention, and public service videos encouraging vaccination. Lipkin was scientific advisor for the Soderbergh 2011 movie “Contagion”, recognized for accuracy and prescience.
His honors include Pew Scholar, Ellison Senior Scholar, Mendel Medal, Drexel Prize, CDC Charles C. Shepard Science Award; fellowships in the NY Academy of Science, American Society for Microbiology, Wildlife Conservation Society, AAAS, Association of American Physicians, Infectious Disease Society of America, Royal Geographic Society, and Council on Foreign Relations, National Academy of Inventors; and the Walter Reed, Hsu-Li, Bernard Fields, Oxford University Simonyi, and NIH Kinyoun Lectureships, He received a gold medal from President Xi for contributions to China during SARS in 2003, and the Order of the Polar Star from President Khürelsükh for contributions to Mongolia during the COVID pandemic.